MINSK, 23 June (BelTA) – Over 30% of the weapons and military hardware the Belarusian army uses is of Belarusian make, BelTA learned from State Secretary of the Security Council, Lieutenant-General Aleksandr Volfovich. The official took part in the opening of the international defense technology expo MILEX 2021 on 23 June.
The official said: “An army that does not grow and does not get new hardware is doomed to fail. Over 30% of the weapons and military hardware in the Armed Forces is of Belarusian make. We follow this path. We grow, get better, and interact with Belarusian defense industry enterprises. A very large range of unmanned strike drones is nearly ready. It will go through testing and will enter service of the Belarusian army.”
In his words, Belarus interacts with Russia in various matters, including the equipping of the Belarusian army with modern weapons and military hardware. “But we still focus on providing Belarusian products to the Armed Forces. There are quite many Belarusian products at the expo. And there are very interesting ones, too. They are unique. The products used by the Belarusian army and by foreign customers invoke only positive emotions among those, who acquire the products. And we have buyers for Belarusian defense products. We focus on missile and rocket engineering, the development of small arms, the creation of Belarusian ammunition, and other components. A large lineup of small arms showcased at the expo is of Belarusian make. They've entered service of the Belarusian army, too,” the official noted.
From the point of view of the scope, the composition and the level of participants, the infrastructure, MILEX is viewed as one of the largest defense technology expos in Eastern Europe. Since 2001 this large-scale weaponry show has been traditionally attracting attention of leading Belarusian and world manufacturers of military products. The expo's key goals are to broadly present Belarusian defense industry products, offer a closer look at the latest high-tech products, and demonstrate capabilities of the enterprises that upgrade and repair military hardware and provide various services to the army.
MILEX 2021 features over 300 samples of cutting-edge weapons, military hardware, and special hardware of Belarusian make alone. As many as 177 of them are showcased for the first time. Eighty-eight products are upgraded ones.
